Rev. William Kroeger Biography
This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and
representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle &
Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 580-583
Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998.
This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit
organizations for their private use.
Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval
system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other
means requires the written approval of the file's author.
This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at
http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm
REV. WILLIAM KROEGER, who has charge for life of the Catholic church of
Epiphany, Hanson county, South Dakota, although not an old settler,
well deserves a place among Hanson county's prominent men. His
portrait, which is presented on another page, will be welcomed as a
valuable addition to this volume.
The location of Epiphany is well chosen, being on the height of ground
between the Big Sioux and James rivers. From this point the land slopes
gently in all directions, and this is the only distinguished feature of
the village. It is situated on the prairie, with no railroad
connections whatever. In 1893, it was but the site of a Catholic
church, 28x52 feet. To-day we find it a small village with stores and a
fine hotel. In 1897, steps were taken to build a new church to replace
the old one which was demolished by a cyclone in 1896, and at present
the basement only is completed. This is 10 x 125 feet, inside
measurement, and the walls are of native or field rock and are five and
a half feet in thickness, tapering to three and a half feet. The
structure, as planned, will be built of pressed brick or jasper
granite, probably the latter, and when completed will be the largest
building of its kind in the state. A chime of four bells will call the
congregation to worship and will mellow the irksomeness of prairie life
for those who have clustered about this little center, and we might say
about this one man, for Father Kroeger deserves the credit of
establishing the church and founding the village.
Our subject was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 25, 1853, the oldest
of a family of eight children born to August and Elizabeth (Sextro)
Kroeger, both of whom were natives of Germany, the former of Bremen and
the latter of Westfald. They both came to this country early in life,
were here married, and settled at Cincinnati where the father worked at
carriage painting. At the age of eighteen years, our subject entered a
medical college at Cincinnati, and graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in
the year 1871, after which he followed the practice of his profession
for three years. At the end of this time he began his study for the
priesthood and was ordained January 26, 1880. He was first given a
charge at Elkhart, Indiana, but as his health was failing, he was
removed and went to Dakota by his own request. Here he was given charge
of the Epiphany congregation, and the church that is now being erected
for this society is the sixteenth erected through the efforts of our
subject. He plans it shall be the "setting to the crown," a grand
culmination of his labors. Aside from his church duties, Father Kroeger
has continued his medical studies, making a specialty of nervous
diseases, lung trouble and female troubles, and also to Kroeger's
latest discovery, for Epilepsy, St. Vitus Dance and nervous debility,
which he prepares in his own laboratory and is introducing in all parts
of the country. Any case of cancer which Dr. Kroeger undertakes to
exercise his skill upon, he will draw said cancer from the body within
the brief period of from ten to twenty-one days. His reputation for
treating diseases of various kinds has become established in many parts
of the Union, and on his consultation days, Saturdays and Mondays, many
people from different states gather for examination and treatment. For
the examination of inflammatory troubles, he has fitted his house with
a fine X ray machine, one of the most powerful that can be procured. A
new laboratory, also, is in course of construction that the Doctor may
be enabled to fill the demand for his medicine.